Equites raises R750 million in debt auction at lowest levels to date

Cape Town, 6 September 2023: Equites Property Fund Limited raised R750 million in the South African debt capital market in a public auction of senior unsecured floating rate notes maturing in June 2026 and June 2028.

On Tuesday, 5 September 2023, Equites issued R300 million in a 2.75-year note at a margin of 129 bps, and R450 million in a 4.75-year note at a margin of 139 bps.

Equites cleared inside price guidance for both the 2026 and 2028 notes. In total, R2.45 billion of bids were received from 16 different investors, resulting in a book that was 3.3 times oversubscribed in an auction conducted by Nedbank CIB.

Warren Douglas, Treasurer and Head of Risk Management at Equites, commented:

“Compared with our last auction in November 2022, we achieved significantly better results, clearing 17 bps and 20 bps lower for the 3- and 5-year notes, respectively.

Equites continues to be a regular issuer in the debt capital markets. As part of our strategy to reduce our loan-to-value ratio, the funds will be used along with asset disposal proceeds to repay existing debt.”

Andrea Taverna-Turisan, CEO at Equites, commented:

“Once again, our public debt auction yielded an excellent set of results with strong institutional support from a wide variety of investors in the capital markets.

This indicates strong market support for our business strategy, and the confidence which South African investors have in Equites.”

The strong pricing of Equites’ debt is reflective of positive investor sentiment and a recent credit rating affirmation of AA-_(ZA) from GCR Ratings on 7 July 2023.